Study suggests Canadian experience with fracking unlikely to mirror those in the US

Nova Scotia, a province with budget problems, is under some pressure to forge ahead with its unconventional oil and gas resources. Before that happens a study was called for to determine the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing.

Social ecologist Shawn Dalton, who headed up the study, says because using fracking only became financially viable about ten years ago peer-reviewed studies are difficult to find.

Dalton adds, “because community research is often oriented toward problem-solving, there is a dearth of information regarding when shale oil and gas extraction … has gone well, and a relative abundance of reports on challenges and problems — most of it centred on communities in the U.S.”